Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Florida Minimum Wage Up 6 Cents

Conservative pundits, such as Rush Limbaugh, talk about how the Left wants to "redistribute wealth" from the hard-working rich to the lazy poor. These same conservative pundits often go on to say that if you give the poor something they will now work. Because we all know how fun being poor is.

Get ready for conservatives to cry over the latest redistribution of wealth. Florida's minimum wage has been raised six cents.

Florida's minimum wage is rising from $7.25 to $7.31 per hour effective today, while tipped workers will see minimum pay rise from $4.23 to $4.29 an hour.

The uptick is the aftermath of a successful lawsuit challenging the way the state calculates minimum wage changes.

The suit filed by the National Employment Law Project and Florida Legal Services said the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI) had used an erroneous formula in calculating annual adjustments in the minimum wage, instead of using the method required by the Florida Constitution, which reflects a cost-of-living increase.

The thing about wages going up for the poor is that it helps stimulate the economy. The poor have to spend their money to buy groceries and pay bills.

"This will result in over $28 million more earned and spent in the local economy this year," said Jose Rodriguez, a lawyer with Florida Legal Services.

Limbaugh and other conservative pundits would have you believe that the poor would retire to their mansions if they get Medicare or a wage increase. The truth is these people are ignorant and want to protect tax cuts for the rich.